Chief Constable Jon Stoddart, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “Week in week out in town centres across the country the police have to deal with the consequences of cheap alcohol and irresponsible drinking.”

“So we’re going to attack it from every angle. Mowwre powers for pubs to stop serving alcohol to people who are already drunk. More powers for hospitals not just to tackle the drunks turning up in A&E - but also the problem clubs that send them there night after night. And a real effort to get to grips with the root cause of the problem. And that means coming down hard on cheap alcohol.

“When beer is cheaper than water, it’s just too easy for people to get drunk on cheap alcohol at home before they even set foot in the pub. So we are going to introduce a new minimum unit price - so for the first time it will be illegal for shops to sell alcohol for less than this set price per unit. We’re consulting on the actual price, but if it is 40p that could mean 50,000 fewer crimes each year and 9,000 fewer alcohol related deaths over the next decade.

“This isn’t about stopping responsible drinking, adding burdens on business or some new kind of stealth tax - it’s about fast immediate action where universal change is needed.”

The PM insists his crackdown will not affect the price of a pint or affect sensible boozers.

He wants it to end ‘pre-loading’ - drinking cheap alcohol at home before heading to pubs or nightclubs.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, of the Royal College of Physicians and the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Health care workers who struggle every day to cope with the impact of our nation’s unhealthy drinking will welcome tough new policies in areas such as price and licensing that are based on evidence and should bring about real benefits.”

ends

A zero tolerance policy will be enforced in A&E departments to tackle drunken behaviour and pubs and clubs will have to pay a late night levy towards policing.